“… Behold, I have given unto you the names of our first
parents who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when
you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may
remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it
is said, and also written, that they were good.” (Helaman 5:6)
I also have one of those unique names that literally reminds
me of my “first parents.” My name is a composite of my dad’s name (Leon) and my
mom’s name (Ann) and I do remember their good works!
Since one of my responsibilities includes entering the new
convert data into the church membership system, I’ve had the opportunity to
think about names this week. From what we’ve seen, most Peruvians have 4 names:
2 “first” names and 2 “last” names (the last name of their father and the last
name of their mother). But … we’ve seen variations. Some have 3 “first” names
and 2 “last” names and some have 3 “first” names and 1 “last” name. And some of
our missionaries filled out their mission paperwork with 3 names, but when I’ve
processed a legal document for them, I’ve found that their DNI card (official
ID card) lists 4 names. Aaack! One missionary didn’t like using his “first”
last name (his dad’s last name) because his dad had abandoned him and his mom.
So … names can be tricky.
However, it’s important to keep accurate records. This week
I came across a record with the names Leandro, Vidal, Gerson, and Luis. The
paperwork that I see is supposed to be filled out with the last names first and
then the first names, separated by a comma. Sometimes this happens and
sometimes it doesn’t. Looking at these names I realized that I didn’t know
which were the “first” names and which were the “last” names. Luckily, one of
the missionaries in the office that day knew this person and cleared up my
questions. Ironically, this person’s parents also had names that could be
either “first” or “last” – Símon, Agustín, Reynaldo, Miranda, and Esperanza!
And happy, happy birthday to my sister, Annette, whose name
also comes from my mom’s names (Ann Etta)!
Have a fantastic week! (Have a wonderful week!)
Love,
Lane & LeAnn
Lane testing out his new Peru apron that his sister Corinne gave him from the Inca Market we visited last week!
And this is what he cooked! Well, no. Unfortunately, as good as the apron looks, it doesn't cook for you! This was our P-day night "lomo saltado" dinner at a local restaurant! Basically steak, potatoes, rice, onions, tomatoes, and a fruit drink of pineapple, orange, and lemon.
Closer view of the precarious welding.
This hill of colorful houses is very near our mission office. The yellow vertical lines are the stairs for accessing the homes. Can you imagine climbing those everyday to get to your home?
“Out of the dreariness
Into its cheeriness
Come we in weariness,
Home.”
~Stephen Chalmers
This poem started rolling around in my head in mid-January
and made me feel a little melancholy (which can be a good thing now and then),
but it also made me recognize that our little apartment here in Peru feels like
home. The ancient Nephites knew the importance of their homes and fought to
protect them:
“Nevertheless, the Nephites were inspired by a better cause,
for they were not fighting for monarchy nor power but they were fighting for
their homes and their liberties, their wives and their children, and their all,
yea, for their rites of worship and their church.” (Alma 43:45)
February 15 marked our 1-year mission anniversary. We served
6 and ½ months from our home in Lehi (over Zoom) and we’ve been here in Lima
for 5 and ½ months.
We’ll let the pictures tell the story of our week!
¡Que tengan una semana fantástica! (Have a fantastic week!)
Love,
Lane & LeAnn
We did some Saturday afternoon grocery shopping after the Inka Market. This grocery store is the same chain that is located near to us, but this particular store is located in a more upscale part of town. It is definitely the fanciest grocery store that we've seen here.
¡Feliz día de San Valentín! (Happy Valentine’s Day – almost!)
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one
another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (John 13: 34)
This week was multi-district conferences (which we weren’t
involved in) so it was pretty quiet around the office. Among other things, I
scheduled the travel and prepared the paperwork for the missionaries who will
head home mid-March, paid the fines for our Peruvian missionaries who weren’t
able to vote in the last couple of elections, and tried to track down our 1,000
“lost” copies of El Libro de Mormón. No
kidding … we ordered 1,000 Spanish copies of The Book of Mormon at the first of January and they still haven’t
arrived from the warehouse here in Lima! Anyway … we’re still not exactly sure
what happened to the original order, but it took President Packard getting
involved and procuring the phone number of the Lima warehouse where he was able
to get 300 copies delivered to us in 2 days!
Lane was busy keeping up on our mission’s finances and
housing responsibilities – paying the many missionary utility bills,
negotiating contracts for new houses, “closing” houses we no longer need, and
setting-up new phones for the missionaries whose phones weren’t working.
The week’s highlights included listening to President and
Sister Zeballos (he’s the Area president) speak to the CCM missionaries on
Wednesday and attending Corinne and Meredith’s amazing Valentine’s BBQ on
Saturday … see pics below!
¡Que tengan una semana fantástica! (Have a fantastic week!)
Love,
Lane & LeAnn
We made a small batch of cinnamon rolls the other night. They actually turned out great!
This week while studying, I remembered an experience I had many years ago. I was reading the scriptures – the Book of Mormon, specifically – and I was having a really hard time concentrating. I had read several verses, but then couldn’t remember what I’d just read. So I would re-read the verses. And it still wouldn’t sink in and make sense. I repeated this pattern a few times before I realized what the problem was. I was frustrated with a situation (and a couple of people) at the time and had some negative “vibes” in my heart. In my exasperation, I said a silent prayer to be lead to a verse that would help me, and then I flipped the pages of my BoM and randomly put my finger on the page. These are the words my finger landed on: “Behold ye are worse than they … ” (Helaman 13:26). “WHAT?! How can this be?” I tried to rationalize this away and even thought about repeating my experiment, but as I humbled myself, I realized that I was nursing a grudge and letting myself be offended. God was telling me to MOVE ON and reminding me of this important principle:
“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s
eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the
mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own
eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s
eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5)
In mission news … This week was Cambios (transfers) and we’re
happy to report that all of our departing missionaries made it onto their
respective flights or busses – which is an improvement over the last transfers.
We hosted one sister missionary overnight, but really didn’t get to talk with
her much as she arrived to our apartment late Monday night and then left early
Tuesday morning.
This week was also a training week with the 6-week and
12-week training meetings as well as the leader council meeting. So there were
lots of missionaries in and out of the office and I’m kicking myself for not
taking more pictures!
On Thursday, we drove to the CCM on the other side of town.
A new group of English-speaking missionaries (mostly from the US) arrived at
4:30am that morning and Lane helped our branch president interview them. These
interviews are very informal … just brief get-to-know-you interviews. While
Lane interviewed missionaries, I was able to talk with those waiting and gather
information for the CCM president’s wife about items the missionaries may still
need to get (shower sandals, laundry bag, …), food sensitivities, etc. It was
fun to see these fresh missionaries and feel their excitement.
In neighborhood news … Lane and I try to be friendly as we walk to and from the mission office, saying “buenos dias or buenas tardes” as we pass people. Anyway, one evening, as I was unlocking the outer door to our apartment building, a woman passed by us and Lane greeted her with the standard “Buenas tardes.” She immediately responded with, “Buenas tardes, guapo!” Once inside our building I had to ask, “Did that woman just say, ‘good afternoon, handsome!’?” Yep, that’s what she’d said! I know my hubby is handsome … and so do some of our neighbors!
¡Que tengan una semana fantástica! (Have a fantastic week!)
Love,
Lane & LeAnn
And of course, LeAnn is always searching out and welcoming our little visitor friends. Then makes Lane get rid of them.
